Exclusive – Di Resta: ‘It’s been a good start’

Paul di Resta has told talkSPORT of his delight with his start to life as a Formula One driver.

The Scot finished 12th on his debut in Australia on Sunday but was promoted to 10th after the Saubers of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi were disqualified for an illegal rear wing.

That gave Di Resta his first world championship point and he told Keys & Gray: “It’s been a good start. If you look back, definitely going into Australia we would have been more than happy to come away with a point, no matter how you scored it.

“We’ve had a difficult winter, the cars not quite performed exactly where we needed it to be but we’ve just got to hold tight with it for the next couple of races before the new upgrades start coming through.”

Force India finished seventh in the constructors championship last season and di Resta has set his sights on helping the team break into the top five this time around.

"You aim to be a mid-field team," added the 24-year-old. "The ambition is to be top five in the constructors championship. There’s obviously a few teams round about that.

"The infrastructure just doesn’t allow you quite to go where the likes of Ferrari, Red Bull and McClaren get. Last season we missed sixth in the constructors by one point so we hope this year we'd certainly be improved."